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arXiv 1010.0679astro-ph.GA
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M31是否源于一次古老的重大合并?

Does M31 result from an ancient major merger?

F. Hammer, Y. B. Yang, J. L. Wang, M. Puech, H. Flores, S. Fouquet

摘要:

M31晕中的众多流目前被认为是由于多个小合并造成的。在这里,我们使用GADGET 2模拟代码来测试M31是否可能在其过去的历史中经历了一次重大的合并。结果表明,一个3+/-0.5:1的富气并合,r(per)=25+/-5kpc和一个极轨道可以解释M31及其晕的许多性质。相互作用和融合可能分别在8.75+/-0.35 Gyr和5.5 +/-0.5 Gyr前开始。与几乎静止的恒星形成的历史融合之前,我们检索分数的凸起,薄和厚磁盘,以及相对分数的中间年龄和老恒星在厚磁盘和巨流。巨流是由恒星从潮汐尾返回造成的,潮汐尾在融合之前就已经从卫星上剥离了。这些返回的恒星被困在椭圆轨道或环中几乎是哈勃时间周期。大环也被预测,它们与最近在M31郊区发现的特征相当吻合。我们证明,一个单一的合并可以解释一阶(强度和大小),形态和运动学特性的磁盘,厚盘,凸起和流的晕M31,以及恒星年龄的分布,也许金属丰度。它挑战了假设在磁盘(10 kpc环)或外围(许多流和厚磁盘)中每个功能都有一个小合并的场景。进一步的限制将有助于适当评估这样一个重大事件对当地小组的影响。

英文摘要:

The numerous streams in the M31 halo are currently assumed to be due to multiple minor mergers. Here we use the GADGET2 simulation code to test whether M31 could have experienced a major merger in its past history. It results that a 3+/-0.5:1 gaseous rich merger with r(per)=25+/-5 kpc and a polar orbit can explain many properties of M31 and of its halo. The interaction and the fusion may have begun 8.75+/-0.35 Gyr and 5.5 +/-0.5 Gyr ago, respectively. With an almost quiescent star formation history before the fusion we retrieve fractions of bulge, thin and thick disks as well as relative fractions of intermediate age and old stars in both the thick disk and the Giant Stream. The Giant Stream is caused by returning stars from a tidal tail previously stripped from the satellite prior to the fusion. These returning stars are trapped into elliptical orbits or loops for almost a Hubble time period. Large loops are also predicted and they scale rather well with the recently discovered features in the M31 outskirts. We demonstrate that a single merger could explain first-order (intensity and size), morphological and kinematical properties of the disk, thick disk, bulge and streams in the halo of M31, as well as the distribution of stellar ages, and perhaps metallicities. It challenges scenarios assuming one minor merger per feature in the disk (10 kpc ring) or at the outskirts (numerous streams & thick disk). Further constraints will help to properly evaluate the impact of such a major event to the Local Group.

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